In 1996, the first project of the Vernon A. Tait All-Animal Adoption, Preservation, and Rescue Fund, Inc., was a toll-free hotline number to answer questions about animals. It was also an adoption matching and information resource.

The staff soon realized that most of the calls were related to issues caused by feline overpopulation: unwanted cats and kittens, free-roaming strays and ferals, and too many animals euthanized in shelters. It was not long before TEAM decided to address these problems head-on with the creation of a mobile spay/neuter clinic that made these services affordable and accessible.

Here is one of the two mobile clinics that TEAM has on the road today. They are almost identical inside and out. The top photo shows what they looked like when they were launched in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and the bottom photo shows the clinics you see today after a much needed makeover in 2014.

It took only 3 years for TEAM to outgrow its first mobile clinic (which we showed you last week) due to rising demand from cat caretakers across the state. Unit 2 debuted in 2000 – a year when TEAM completed over 12,000 surgeries! Unit 2 was an RV in its past-life, which we retro-fitted for our needs.

Again, it would not be long until a new and improved vehicle was required for our rapidly expanding program.

This was our first mobile clinic, which made its debut on the road in 1997 – and it may look familiar to our long-time supporters! On our first day out, we drove to Bridgeport and completed 12 surgeries. In those days, our fee was $25 for the spay/neuter package. Within a year, we completed over 8,000 surgeries and as the demand for our services grew, so did the need for a bigger vehicle.